Let’s say there is a child in grade 5 who stutters. His teacher and other students fills in his words when he stutters. He gets marks taken off because his oral presentation went on too long. His is avoiding answering questions in class or participating in discussion and gets low participation marks. He purposely answers questions wrong in class to avoid stuttering on the correct answer. (which I have done as a kid) His teacher allows him not join in reading aloud.

Who advocates for him?

Who is aware that someone needs to advocate for him?

The parent? Do they know what is happening? How would they know? Does he tell his parents? Or is he ashamed of his stuttering and sees these activities as failure?

Is it the SLP who advocates? Is he getting SLP services? Many SLP’s will admit that they do not like to work with people who stutter or what happens in many schools is they say they don’t have the time or expertise to offer speech services for kids who stutter and they refer the student to expensive private practice that the family would need to pay for on an ongoing basis.

So…who advocates for him?

Other groups have outreach services for kids who need more attention in school and require a specialist.

I believe we have a hole in the system of kids slipping through the cracks.

When I was in University I took a child development class and I learnt something important that changed how I see myself as a person who stutters.

Learning:

If someone says to a little girl “your dress is pretty” what the little girl perceives is you think I am pretty.

As children growing up and you stutter and someone keeps looking at you strangely or makes fun of your stuttering we cannot separate that fact that someone may not like my stuttering but that they can still like me as a person.

Even as an adult it is challenging to wrap my head around that someone may find my stuttering annoying or may not like listening to it but they can still like me as a person.

I think it’s important to separate our identity from the physical way in which our body prefers to communicate, but yet I also understand how stuttering has had such a huge impact on how I perceive the world around me and has shaped my personality. Stuttering has provided opportunities for me to grow into a person who is brave, persistent, strong, and empathetic. I think these characteristics are more intense because of my life experiences as a person who stutters and my interests have also been influenced.

There is a divide in the stuttering community, those who connect it to their identity and those who want to separate it. My view? Stuttering is a part of my body it is not a representation me, but the effects of stuttering has had a huge influence on who I am as a person and how I perceive the world, and I think for the better.

UPDATE: CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN

I have a few ideas have been floating around in my head. A wish list. Things I would like for the stuttering community. Resources and networks that we would have established. Connections really. My first task that I think is do-able is setting up a social night. Just being the coordinator and once a month organizing a social activity and setting up a place and time. Kind of like an open house party but in public.

So, September 9th my family and I will be at Central Park in Burnaby. We can throw around the freezbie, play some badminton, throw around a baseball, play some cards. I’ll be bring the items or you can also bring anything else that you would like as well.

When: September 9th, 3-4:30pm. Come anytime, leave anytime. Just pop into say HI if you wish. No need to RSVP. If it’s raining it will be cancelled.

Who: PWS (people who stutter) and their friends and family are welcome.

Purpose: To socialize and chat. We don’t NEED to talk about stuttering.

Where: Central Park, Burnaby BC, We will meet at around the kids park area. There are picnic tables and if nothing is available I’ll bring blankets and we can find a patch of space. I’ll bring a red balloon so you know it’s us. The above picture is a picture part of the park, but not where we will meet. Please click on the link below to view the park map and it shows you were the closest parking lot is and where the kids park is. We will not be directly at the park but in the green space around the park.

This blog site will be my writings about stuttering in connection with the stuttering community including PWS (people who stutter) and MSC (members of the stutter community ). This is my place to write about the topic of stuttering not from a medical perspective but from a social one. How does stuttering effect our lives and how does it effect how we interact with the people and world around us? Right now topics around the stuttering community that are interesting to me are ones connected to advocacy, social justice, and how the stuttering community operates as a system.

I will try and keep my blogs short and concise, little thought bubbles to throw out into the world.

My first efforts will be local ones. Since BCAPS (British Columbia Association of People who Stutter) is no longer up and running, the need to rejoin everyone together is my first task at hand.

Goal

This blog site will be my writings about stuttering in connection with the stuttering community including PWS (people who stutter) and MSC (members of the stuttering community). I will write about the topic of stuttering not from a medical perspective but from a social one. Topics around stuttering that re interesting to me are ones connected to advocacy, social justice, and how the stuttering community operates as a system.